20100907

we were in the province a couple of weeks ago, and just as the sun had set, we heard a bell tinkling at the gate. it was a man on a bicycle, with bamboo baskets piled behind his seat. it was a traveling vendor from a neighbouring village, selling tinapa, or smoked fish. he and his wife work at home, preparing various fish that they procure from the wet market in the morning, or sometimes from their own nets. they work hard at this backyard tinapahan--the catch they get in the morning is more often than not smoked and sold by sundown.

making tinapa is slightly different from the traditional western style of smoking fish. the local method involves the fish being boiled in a brine first, then arranged on a bistay, or woven bamboo tray that is a signature of trade. they are dried in the sun before going through the smoking process; hardwood and sawdust is often used, and the smoking time usually around four to six hours.

the fish were still warm by the time the vendor reached our house. he pulled out his inventory, carefully setting the bistays on newspaper he laid out on the ground before him. (unless there are some curious puppies, in which case, on a nearby table.) my aunt inspected them thoroughly, amiably chatting with the vendor, but also asking many questions about the provenance of the fish. he only had galunggong or mackerel scad left; it is a common fish, quite oily but tasty. it was once known as "the poor man's fish" in the philippines, but has gained quite a bit of popularity in the past decade and purportedly it now has to be imported from china to keep up with the demand. however, today's catch, he assured, came from local waters. my aunt remained a bit skeptical, but the fish were firm of flesh, plump, and the smoky aroma was irresistible. we bought out the rest of his supply, which he carefully wrapped in bundles of six, in half sheets of newspaper. amusingly, my little bundle was decorated with news of lindsay lohan. a little entertainment for the evening.

although tinapa are thoroughly cooked, most people fry the fish before serving. we don't; just a little time in the oven or microwave heats them through, without drying them out or diminishing the lush smokiness. served with a simple vinegar mixed with sliced shallots and a pile of rice suffices. nothin' poor about that.

20100904

do you remember the days before the internezz when most information was word-of-mouth and you never bothered to check the facts? wait. sounds like the internet age anyway!

**

a cousin told me about gelatissimo; said something about this new gelato shop in greenbelt 5 in makati that was really, really good, and had all sorts of amazing flavours. and! the kicker was that it originated in cebu, which is like, a sort of beachy, sleepy town in the visayas, and how it was like, the best thing to ever come out of there since like, kenneth cobonpue ("who?", you say? well, g'wan, click on the link!) . i was all, "right on!" i could get behind a new filipino company especially if it was good. we decided to check it out after dinner.

when we got to the shop, i admit i was expecting something nice, but it was more posh than i had imagined. schmantzy sign, lots of product attractively displayed in refrigerated cases, intimate but adequate seating area. wow, sooo not beachy, baby.

and then i went to peruse the flavour selection and was really surprised--not only were there the standard flavours but semi-wacky ones like honey, toffee and malt, black sesame, cinnamon donut, teddy graham cracker biscuits, profiterole. which, you know, sound super sexy and less fattening in italian: miele, caramello e malto, sesamo nero, ciambellina di cannella...uh, teddy cracker di farina di frumento and erm, profiterole. i went with the cinnamon donut gelato which kinda blew me away--it actually tasted like a cinnamon donut, not just cinnamon, but also baked and cakey, too. but all in a spoonful of creamy, cool, smooth milky confection. bella scoperta! who whudda thunkit? not i said the fly.

i was really impressed with the product--not only was it some of the best gelato i'd had in the city, but anywhere outside of italy. i was told that it was so good that they had they opened up a shop in florence, italy. pardon my sopranos' italian but oogatz, they got some stugats to breeng this stuff to eeataly, youknowwhaimsayin'? but from what i sampled, i thought "yeah, okay! awesome. meravigliosa."

in the next few days i tried a few more flavours--the green apple sorbet, dark chocolate sorbet (pictured at the top of the post), pineapple, and rum raisin--all of them very, very good. the chocolate sorbet was actually quite welcome on a hot, humid and oppressive day--it was rich and dark like black coffee without the acidic bite, a little bit fruity and very, very light in texture, despite the strong flavour. the "weirdest" flavour i tried was a buttered caramel popcorn, which i don't know if i could recommend. it tasted exactly like lightly buttered, lightly caramelized popcorn, like something you'd get in a movie theatre. it also tasted sort of stale. like something you'd get in a movie theatre. at least it was authentic.

**

so. i was excited by this new discovery of mine, i was all blah blah blah love it! gotta try it! gotta tell everyone about it! so i thought i'd email a friend. while i was writing the email, i thought i'd check online if they had a website. and duh--i mean sí, certamente of course there is a website. which of course tells the REAL story, which is that it's a big ole australian chain and it's everywhere, and of course it's awesome, fool. i smacked my head, thought of some nasty things in italian to call my cousin the next time i saw him. then i thought "hm, i wonder what new flavour is out today?"

DISCLAIMER: this is a personal journal with no desires to be anything but. it contains my opinion with occasional fact thrown in; recipes have been tested where noted, in an unairconditioned kitchen in the tropics. YMMV. for my sake and yours, consult a professional!